Chapter 82 Chapter 82 Have you ever thought about me!

Duan Wenpei gave her a deep look, then picked up the teapot beside him and filled her half-empty cup. He said softly, "I don't want to do anything. It's just that the emperor is hesitant and needs someone to give him a push."

There was no respect for the emperor in his expression. Nan Xu raised her eyelids unconsciously and was not surprised by this. However, Nan Yicheng's expression changed slightly, and his anger was gradually mixed with some inexplicable surprise.

He patted Yin Wu's hand on his arm and slowly sat down.

The Yong'an Marquisate prospered for decades, and even if the descendants were not very successful, they were still braver and more knowledgeable than others. Although Nan Yicheng liked to write books and biographies, he had not forgotten his identity. The indifference in his eyes gradually turned into a series of real scrutiny, shooting at the people around him.

"I call you my brother-in-law because I truly consider you family. I can't stop you from doing whatever you want, but I ask you, for Ah Xu's sake, to tell me, no, to the Yong'an Marquisate, are you on their side, or..." He glanced at Yin Wu and Nan Xu, a hard expression on his face, "or are you on the side of the one in the palace?"

They couldn't understand or see through Duan Wenpei.

The Yong'an Marquisate did not want to make enemies with such a person, nor did it want to go to war with its own son-in-law.

So, when Nan Xu married him, everyone in Yong'an Marquis Mansion was thinking about this question.

If it were in the past, he might have been more wary than concerned; but now, Duan Wenpei was willing to tell Nan Xu about his life story, which showed that Duan Wenpei at least had Nan Xu in his heart, and also cared about the Yong'an Marquis Mansion to some extent.

Nan Xu clasped her hands tightly on her knees and stared at him intently. She was also looking forward to his answer.

The wing room is spacious, and the four people sitting around the round table seem close to each other, but when you look closely, they are clearly separated.

Duan Wenpei felt the gazes of the three people and remained silent for a long time. Finally, he raised his hand, picked up some food with his chopsticks, stood up and placed it in Nanxu's bowl. "I asked the kitchen to incorporate some Kyoto flavors into this dish. It's not as spicy as before. Try it and see if it's different from before."

Nan Yicheng didn't understand what was going on. He exchanged a glance with Yin Wu, and then they both looked at Nan Xu with some confusion.

Does this have any relevance to the question they are asking?

Showing his concern for Nan Xu at this time is expressing his attitude?

Nan Yicheng didn't like this ambiguous answer and was eager to know the exact answer, "Uncle..."

"I should have thought that you were the owner behind Tianxiang Tower."

Nan Xu suddenly interrupted her elder brother and looked at Duan Wenpei with burning eyes.

The food that was picked up by the chopsticks in the bowl slowly collapsed to the bottom of the bowl as if to echo her resounding conclusion.

Nan Xu had a good memory. This dish was one of the ones she ordered when she first came to Tianxiang Tower to wait for him to explain whether they could cancel the engagement.

Most Sichuan dishes are quite spicy, so she only tasted one bite and then put it aside. Moreover, she knew he had entered the next room, and she and Yin Ruizhu were busy watching him and did not pay special attention to any one dish.

If he hadn't specifically put this dish into her bowl, she wouldn't have cared whether the taste of any of the dishes on the table had changed.

He knew exactly what was going on with such a small thing and even had the taste improved.

It is obvious that he has a close relationship with Tianxiang Tower.

Nan Xu signaled the anxious Nan Yicheng to calm down, raised his chopsticks, and ate the food in the bowl.

It tastes slightly spicy at first, and then turns to sweet as saliva is secreted, wrapped in the fresh fragrance of the ingredients, impacting the taste buds.

Nan Xu chewed slowly, "You've actually been preparing to return to Shu for a long time."

Nan Xu picked up the handkerchief on the table, wiped her mouth, and looked up at Duan Wenpei. "Since Tianxiang Tower was your property, you couldn't have been unaware that Zhao Huaijue was planning to attack you. As Emperor Xuanwu's right-hand man, you helped him ascend the throne and eliminate his enemies. You couldn't have been unaware that the thunder bombs in the armory had long been misappropriated. You knew all this, but you kept it to yourself. You asked Xie Jin and Huang Yu to testify on your behalf. You simply happened to be at Tianxiang Tower while meeting with colleagues."

She took a deep breath and drank the tea in the cup in one gulp. The tea was slightly cold, chilling her heart, and her voice gradually became colder. "Of course, the assassination was planned by Zhao Huaijue long ago, just to kill important officials of the court, and it has nothing to do with your background. Afterwards, you lured Zhao Huaijue into your trap step by step, and watched me get involved in your plan because of Yin Ruizhu. You watched coldly from the sidelines, using two innocent women as bait, which was also your plan, forcing Zhao Huaijue to kidnap Ruizhu in order to kill you on the night of his escape from Kyoto. All of this was just to keep Zhao Huaijue."

"Duan Wenpei, why do you want to keep Zhao Huaijue?" She slowly stood up and walked behind Yin Wu and Nan Yicheng, looking at the people opposite across the table. Duan Wenpei's eyes were filled with dark colors. At this moment, as powerful as he was, he didn't dare to look Nan Xu in the eye.

Nan Xu didn't miss the look on his face, she bit her lip unconsciously and continued speaking.

"Of course, it's to keep him as a bargaining chip."

"However, I am very confused. Does the uncle know that the princess will intervene? Does he know whether Zhao Huaijue will survive the explosion?

"Perhaps, Master Bo doesn't actually know whether his schemes will ultimately succeed. It's just that Master Bo grew up scheming and being schemed against, and scheming has become a part of his life. Just like," she paused, her lips curled into a sarcastic arc, "when Master Bo spread the rumor that the princess loved Zhao Huaijue and Li Zhan stayed overnight with an Oiran, he probably didn't expect that the rumor would spread so widely and would also implicate me."

"Snap", the chopsticks in Nan Yicheng's hand broke into two pieces due to the force. Yin Wu hurried to check if his hand was hurt, but his eyes were fixed on Duan Wenpei opposite him.

She almost instinctively protected Nan Xu and her husband behind her like a hen protecting her chicks.

Nan Xu held Yin Wu's arm soothingly, looked at Duan Wenpei's unchanging cold face, and smiled silently, "These are all my guesses. Master, do you think they are correct?"

Her forced smile made her already stunning face even more sharp and charming. Duan Wenpei was distracted, and a complex emotion flashed across his eyes. When he looked again, there was silence again.

"Nan Xu, you're very smart. I've always admired that about you."

He looked her straight in the eye and spoke directly without any emotion.

Nan Xu had thought of many possible reactions from him, but the one she least wanted to see was this moment.

A dense pain rose up somewhere in her heart. She bit her lip and glared back unwillingly, "Why do you need to tell me, uncle? I admire it myself. But you and I are different. I don't like and disdain your many calculations. I don't want to get myself into trouble because of your calculations. So, finally, I want to ask you again, uncle, about this marriage, about..." She stopped with some difficulty in speaking, her nails pinching into her palms because of nervousness and shame, but a voice in her heart told her to ask out loud.

She closed her eyes, then opened them again, her voice filled with determination. "I know that you're laying your cards on the table today, revealing your identity as the owner of Tianxiang Tower, because you want to tell the Yong'an Marquisate that you can be both a minister of Emperor Xuanwu and the Yong'an Marquisate's son-in-law. You can make plans for both public and private reasons, and when necessary, the Yong'an Marquisate can seek your protection. But, but I'm your wife. Even if this engagement was only made possible by that imperial decree, I'm still your legitimate wife. I just want to know, among all your plans, have you ever hesitated for a moment, regretted for a moment, and put your wife in such danger?"

"Have you?"

“Is there?!”

Each sentence was more emotional than the last, shaking the hearts of those present.

As a woman herself, Yin Wu knew exactly what was hidden in these words.

She glanced at the obviously suppressed look on the opposite side with a complicated expression, then stood up and hugged Nan Xu tightly, "If you have anything to say, just say it slowly, Ah Xu, just say it slowly."

Feeling Nan Xu's trembling, Yin Wu sighed helplessly.